Tag: Theologians & Economists
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Theologians & Economists: Parable of the Talents (1)
[Series Index] (After a month-long hiatus, we pick up this series again.) In the previous post, I noted the problem of reading New Testament stories out of context and unwittingly inserting our economic context into the stories. The Parable of the Talents is frequently used to support stewardship and wise investment of our resources. There…
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Theologians & Economists: Linear Time and Progress
[Series Index] So far, we have noted the Hebrews' unique cosmology and notion of decentralized stewardship. But another peculiarity about Hebrew thought contributes directly to economic behavior: Linear time and progress. Ancient Near East culture had a cyclical view of time. Time moved in repeating patterns. Worship and daily life were about conforming to the…
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Theologians & Economists: A Vision of Shalom
[Series Index] Earlier in this series, I said human beings build worlds to inhabit and infuse them with meaning. As God's image-bearers, that is simply what we do. But our world-building enterprise has become corrupted. Because of sin, there is always a mixture of goodness and idolatry in all we create. God's mission is about…
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Theologians & Economists: Economics and God’s Mission
[Series Index] Human beings were created to build a world. According to Genesis, humanity is to exercise dominion over the earth … to multiply and fill the earth. Psalm 8 declares. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human…
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Theologians & Economists: The Rise of Unprecedented Prosperity (1)
[Series Index] Is the state of the world getting better or getting worse? Our mission is to seek the greatest shalom possible in the world, always aware that shalom in its fullness will only be recognized at the consummation of the new creation at Christ's return. But how would we measure shalom? Isaiah 65:17-25 gives…
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Theologians & Economists: Division of Labor and Trade Transform the World (2)
[Series Index]Trade (Continued) (Yesterday, we quickly highlighted the impact of the division of labor and how trade creates wealth. We continue with the second feature of trade that is too frequently invisible.) Information and Incentives The second thing trade does is create an information and incentive system, coordinating economic activity for millions of people. Take…
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Theologians & Economists: The Oikonomos?
[Series Index] We begin this post by recounting a story from Starfish and the Spider. The authors relate a story about David Garrison’s (CEO of Netcom … an AOL-type operation) attempt to raise funds from a French venture capital firm in 1995. … There were about thirty people in the room … It was like…
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Theologians & Economists: “Family Writ Large” and the Information Gap
[Series Index] Without a doubt, family is the Bible's most pervasive metaphor for the people of God. We are all children of Abraham. We are the household of God, where God is the paterfamilias. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, with God as the head of the household. Families are face-to-face communities. People…
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Theologians & Economists: The Mainline Theological View of Economics
[Series Index] George Bernard Shaw said, "If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion." It is true that economists are hardly a monolithic bunch. Yet, it would be untrue to say that there are no core economic principles upon which economists agree … things like the relationship of supply…